Murshidabad: 55-year-old dies over SIR ‘fear’

Kolkata: A 55-year-old widow, Shakela Bibi, from Murshidabad’s Beldanga has allegedly died by suicide after becoming overwhelmed by fear and confusion surrounding the ongoing Special Intensive Revision of the voter list.

According to her family, the woman was deeply distressed for days after discovering that her deceased husband’s name was incorrectly recorded in the updated electoral rolls. This mistake reportedly triggered anxiety that officials might question her documentation, or that she might face legal or administrative complications.

Family members said she repeatedly expressed worry about how she would prove the error and whether the authorities would hold her responsible for the discrepancy. Neighbours also stated that she was unusually quiet and visibly tense in the days leading up to the incident. She, reportedly, went to the Panchayat Pradhan, to know the possible solution of her problem. On the morning of the tragedy, she left home without informing anyone and later jumped in front of a train, leading to her death on the spot. The rail police and locals found the body and took her to the hospital, where she was declared dead.

From October 27, after the SIR was announced, one after another SIR related deaths were reported. With this death the toll rises to 21. The ruling party has requested not to get panicked and promised help from their camps situated across Bengal for SIR related quarries.